The following processes are known as a method for producing trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline using microorganisms.
1) A process in which trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline is produced from 4-hydroxy-2-oxoglutaric acid using microorganisms of the genus Escherichia (Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 266,995/91)
2) A process in which trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline is produced directly through fermentation using bacteria or fungi (European (EP 0 547 898 A2, and Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application Nos. 236,980/93 and 245,782/94)
3) A process in which trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline is produced from L-proline using microorganisms of the genus Streptomyces [J. Biol. Chem., 254, 6684 (1979), Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 120, 45, (1984), Tetrahedron Letters, 34, 7489 (1993), and Tetrahedron Letters, 35, 4649 (1994)].
The conventional processes can, however, hardly be performed on an industrial scale for the following reasons:
1) A substrate for producing trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline, such as 4-hydroxy-2-oxoglutaric acid is too expensive and is difficult to obtain.
2) The productivity of trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline is low.
3) The activity of the enzymes that relate to the production of trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline is quite weak.
Heretofore, L-proline-4-hydroxylase has not been isolated. A process for producing trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline, using an enzyme source which is isolated from a microorganism belonging to the genus Dactylosporangium or Amycolatopsis and which catalyzes the hydroxylation of L-proline into trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline, has not been known. Although there was a paper reporting that L-proline-4-hydroxylase was isolated from a microorganism belonging to the genus Streptomyces (Tetrahedron Letters, 34, 7489–7492, 1993), the report is silent about steps for isolating the enzyme, the enzyme purity, the physicochemical properties of the enzyme, etc.
With respect to the enzyme that catalyzes the production of trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline, it was reported in a paper that L-proline-4-hydroxylase is purified from a microorganism of the genus Streptomyces. However, a method for obtaining the enzyme and physicochemical properties of the enzyme are not described therein. Further, no paper reported that a gene encoding L-proline-4-hydroxylase having the activity of converting free L-proline into trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline in the presence of 2-ketoglutaric acid and a divalent iron ion had been cloned.
A process in which trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline is produced industrially advantageously using L-proline-4-hydroxylase having a high level of activity has been in demand.
The object of the present invention is to provide an efficient process for the production of trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline on the industrially applicable basis, and the additional object of the present invention is to provide a novel enzyme which catalyzes the hydroxylation of L-proline at the 4-position of L-proline and which is useful in the above process.